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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

der Pacemakers #50 & Pacemakers #51

Pacemakers #50I fell in love with running when i was enlisted into the Army in Aug 1996.With the regular training & running sessions, i began my running chapter in my life. And i signed for the 1st running race in my life, the Army Half Marathon in 1997.. i was highly motivated by the huge number of participants in that race. And in that year itself, i blindly signed up for the marathon (yes crazy uh!!), the Mobil Marathon 1997... it was awesome!! Without proper training, i suffered cramps at the 20km mark... and had to hobble/jog/walk, finishing it in more than 5hrs.. What a wonderful feeling to accomplish that distance... from then on, there was no turning back. My 2nd marathon was at the 1998 Singapore International Marathon.. and to date, i've done 12 marathons, enjoying each run. Entering the world of triathlon has also been a lifelong dream and accomplishing my 1st Ironman in Langkawi in 2007 was an experience I'd never forget. And will be attempting my 1st Ultramarathon 50km in Kedah on 7 Sep 2007. Really looking forward to it.

Along my running journey, I've made many new friends in Singapore & Malaysia, through running groups like SGRunners & Pacemakers, and running club Pacesetters. It is very motivational to see friends taking up running & improving their fitness. And I've also grown to take part in races in both Singapore & Malaysia. It was just a natural progression that in 2006, i joined the Pacesetters as a member. And on 7 Aug 2007, the Captain of the Pacemakers, Ronnie, invited me to join them as Pacemaker #50.. whoa, I'm truly honoured to be a part of the running fanatics.. haha. And I hope to run as long as I live!!

CheersBen @ Pm50

Pacemakers #51I will need to thank my beloved “hubby” for bringing me into the running world :) I started my first race in year 2005 where I participated in the 10k run in KLIM. The reason I went for the run is due to Ben wanted to join the full marathon and he needed chauffeur to send him to the race. At the end, I decided to join a 10k run myself instead of just watching him racing ..... I completed the race in 1hr 26mins which is just 4 mins shorter than the qualifying time but I was extremely proud of myself for completing the 10k run. After this race, I went for more and more 10k run in the year of 2005 and decided to upgrade myself to half marathon in year 2006.

My first half marathon is also done in KLIM. After completed my first half marathons, the feeling of achievement had brought me to more races....and I also realized that to complete a half marathon “within the qualifying time”, I will need frequent training. That was the time where I joined pacesetters, knowing friends from pacemakers network, Sgrunners. This was also the year where I converted a numbers of my friends and family members to become runners and watching them enjoying the healthier life.

Year 2007.. I upgraded myself again... this time I done my first full marathon in KLIM. Completed my maiden run within 4hr 26mins..Whoa yeah!!. now, my dream is to be able to participate in ultra marathon, triathlon and eventually be an “ironman”.

Last but not least, I must thanks Ronnie for inviting me to be part of Pacemakers and wish all the runners out there continue to enjoy their run, their race and more important is to stay healthy!!